Examining the Role of Childhood Maltreatment, Family History, and Adolescent Cannabis Use in Young Adult Cognition

Childhood maltreatment may have lasting impacts on cognitive performance in young adulthood, but the role of adolescent cannabis use in this association remains unclear. This thesis examined adolescent cannabis use as a mechanism of the association between childhood maltreatment and cognitive performance in young adulthood. Young adults (N=156; 19–25-year-olds) with a history of regular cannabis use completed questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment and family history of addiction, a cannabis use history interview, and tasks assessing working memory updating, inhibition, set-shifting, and decision-making. Lifetime cannabis use was examined as a mediator between childhood maltreatment and cognitive outcomes, with family history of addiction included as a moderator. Lifetime alcohol use history was included as a parallel mediator to isolate the role of cannabis from co-occurring alcohol use. Sensitivity analyses were run with recent cannabis use as a mediator. In the lifetime use models, history of childhood maltreatment had a significant association with decision-making but not with the remaining cognitive outcomes. Lifetime cannabis and alcohol use were not significantly associated with childhood maltreatment or any cognitive outcomes. Family addiction history did not moderate any associations. The sensitivity analyses revealed unique relationships of childhood maltreatment with recent alcohol use. Finally, recent cannabis use was associated with poorer set-shifting performance. The findings add support to the literature suggesting childhood maltreatment can have long-term impacts on decision-making and suggest that recent rather than distal cannabis use may be a more relevant predictor of cognitive performance. The findings point to potential targets for prevention of cognitive impairments among young adults.